First Canada eliminated the penny. Then it introduced a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur quarter that cost $30 to buy. Now the Royal Canadian Mint has announced plans to develop a digital alternative to all coinage (and, possibly, small bills), called "MintChip."

Totally making up for the utterly annoying one and two dollar coins, the Royal Canadian Mint has…
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Canada is making it up as it goes along.

According to the narrator of the official introductory video released Wednesday, MintChip, still in development, will be "better than cash" and "so easy a child could use it."

MintChip will work by storing value on a physical chip, such as a microSD card or USB stick, transferring money between chips using heavily encrypted "value messages." The system is intended to be anonymous, as chips will not be linked to bank accounts or credit cards. MintChip will have no centralized database. MintChip will make everyone want mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Causing his own wave of dessert cravings is the Royal Canadian Mint's chief financial officer, Marc Brûlé, who also announced Wednesday a Mint-sponsored contest asking software developers to create smart-phone and other applications demonstrating MintChip's advantages as a form of digital currency.

The first prize winner will receive one 10oz gold wafer (more dessert-talk; I see you, Canada) worth $17,000.

Here are some examples of the kinds of small transactions ideally suited to MintChip technology, according to the introductory video: